Australian GP, 1993

The fortnight between the Japanese and Australian GPs witnessed the launch of the new Simtek Grand Prix team which announced that it would be running David Brabham in 1994. Benetton had given up hope of a Renault engine deal and so re-signed with Ford and JJ Lehto was tipped to join Michael Schumacher. Mercedes-Benz announced that it was making an official return to F1 as engine supplier to Sauber, although it was really only a rebadging deal as the Sauber V10 engine had been Mercedes-Benz funded throughout 1993.

Schumacher adopted a curious strategy with a stop on lap 15 which enabled him to run very fast early on but his efforts were pointless as he retired with an engine failure on lap 20. Senna pitted on lap 24 and Prost was briefly in the lead but he stopped on lap 29 and Senna went ahead again with Alain second, Hill third ahead of Alesi, Berger and Brundle.

The two Williams-Renaults had to stop again and that gave Senna a big lead so that when he stopped for the second time on lap 55 he was able to rejoin with a healthy lead of 20 seconds. Hill later tried to pass Prost for second place and spun but he rejoined to finish third.

It was the perfect result. Senna and Prost - the giants of the era - had fought their last battle. Senna had scored a brilliant win (his last as it would turn out) and on the podium the two old enemies shook hands and made their peace.